The view from Prague : the expectations of world leaders at the dawn of the 21st century by Václav Havel(
)10
editions published
between
2006
and
2007
in
English
and held by
1,529 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
This work is the result of the Forum 2000 conferences initiated by Václav Havel and Elie Wiesel. The book is based mainly
on the first five conferences which were held in Prague from 1997. The first essay written by Václav Havel deals with spiritual
preconditions of the global survival of humankind, and the second one is the quintessence of Havel's views on the world which
we have inherited as well as his views on our hopes for the future. The book closes with Havel's personal reflection on the
deeper meaning and aim of the Forum 2000 meetings. Subsequent chapters analyze and interpret the ideas that were expressed
by the speakers and interlocutors of the first five conferences in which they tried to identify and understand the primary
issues facing mankind globally. Reflections deal with the main dimensions of globalization and with their synchronicities
as well as asynchronicities based on the quintessences of the annual conference reports

The art of the impossible : politics as morality in practice : speeches and writings, 1990-1996 by Václav Havel(
Book
)18
editions published
between
1997
and
1998
in
English and Undetermined
and held by
959 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
This volume consists of thirty-five of these essays, written between the years 1990 and 1996, that manage to be both profoundly
personal and profoundly political. Havel writes of totalitarianism, its miseries and the nonetheless difficult emergence from
it. He describes how his country and the other post-communist countries are learning democracy from scratch and are encountering
obstacles from inside and out. He marvels at the single technology-driven civilization that envelops the globe, and the challenges
this presents to multicultural realities. And he reminds us that - contrary to all appearances - common sense, moderation,
responsibility, good taste, feeling, instinct, and conscience are not alien to politics, but are the very key to its long-term
success

Largo desolato : a play in seven scenes by Václav Havel(
Book
)13
editions published
between
1985
and
1987
in
3
languages
and held by
934 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
All life in a police state is interesting, probably corrupt and potentially subversive as portrayed in this absurdist but
seemingly autobiographical play by Czech playwright Vaclav Havel. As in Phoenix, to cite an example, police don't care about
guilt, innocence, justice or mercy. If anyone is accused of a crime, they want a conviction. In Havel's play, Professor Leopold
Nettles is charged with "disturbing the intellectual peace." Only in a police state could anyone invent such a wide-ranging
crime. In Phoenix, conviction means a fine. In Havel's play, a conviction may mean an indeterminate sentence in semi-starved
misery in a distant gulag. Once suspected, Leopold knows he's guilty in the eyes of the state. The play portrays a variety
of people who visit him, proud that he speaks up in defiance of the authorities - - - but unwilling to join him in his stand
for intellectual freedom. Leopold, like Havel for much of his life, is utterly alone. But who are the well-wishers who applaud
his dissidence? Are they friends, or secret police agents as provocateurs? Two police agents who visit offer a clever means
to avoid prosecution; in effect, "just agree to our falsehoods and all charges will go away." Really? A trap? Are the police
undermining the government they serve? How can anyone trust anything? Such is the nature of 'Largo Desolato' and life in a
police state. --Theodore A. Rushton at Amazon.com

The memorandum by Václav Havel(
Book
)25
editions published
between
1966
and
2013
in
3
languages
and held by
887 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
The Memorandum is a remarkably witty assault on the madness of "efficiency" peculiar to total bureaucracy. In a large office,
and unknown to the Managing Director, a new language called Ptydepe is installed as the official means of inter-office communication

The Power of the powerless : citizens against the state in central-eastern Europe by Václav Havel(
Book
)39
editions published
between
1985
and
2015
in
English
and held by
875 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
"Published simultaneously as vol. XV, no. 3-4, of International journal of politics"--T.p. verso. The power of the powerless
/ Václav Havel -- Spiritual values, independent initiatives, and politics / Rudolf Battéek -- Catholicism and politics /
Václav Benda -- On the question of Chartism / Václav Cerný -- The human rights movement and social progress / Jirí Hájek
-- Prospects for democracy and socialism in eastern Europe / Ladislav Hejdánek -- Chartism and "real socialism" / Miroslav
Kusý -- Who really is isolated? / Jirí Ruml -- The alternative community as revolutionary avant-garde / Petr Uhl -- Thoughts
inside a tightly-corked bottle / Josef Vohryzek -- On not living in hatred / Josef Zvéerina -- Appendix, Charter 77 Declaration

Temptation : a play in ten scenes by Václav Havel(
Book
)15
editions published
between
1988
and
2013
in
English and Undetermined
and held by
698 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
In his most challenging work to date, Czech playwright Vaclav Havel has given the Faust legend a provocative twist. His setting
is 'the Institute, ' whose mission is to combat the 'irrational tendencies' in society through its scientific work. Personal
and professional relationships at this 'lighthouse of truthful knowledge' are a tissue of lies and sycophancy in which all
concerned willingly collude

The beggar's opera by Václav Havel(
Book
)5
editions published
between
1990
and
2001
in
English and Czech
and held by
453 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
"The Beggar's Opera is a free-wheeling, highly politicized adaptation of John Gay's well-known eighteenth-century work of
the same name. The play, reminiscent of Havel's earlier Garden Party and The Memorandum, is up to his best satirical standard.
Like the Brecht/Weill Threepenny Opera, Havel's play uses an underworld milieu to explore the intermingled themes of love,
loyalty, and treachery."--Jacket

Summer meditations by Václav Havel(
Book
)47
editions published
between
1991
and
2018
in
6
languages
and held by
444 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
In his first book as president of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic, Vaclav Havel offers us a profound meditation on the
nature and practice of politics and a stirring plea for morality, civility, and openness in public life in a time of overwhelming
global change. From his unique perspective as both a head of state and a writer of great clarity and eloquence, Havel reflects
on his experience in office, and on the questions that his own presence there brings so powerfully to mind: Is there a place
for morality, and for simple decency, in politics? Have his ideals and principles--forged through two decades of courageous
opposition to totalitarianism--a place in public life? His answer, put forth with remarkable candour, is unequivocally affirmative.
He explores in this forthright book the practical problems facing his country today and openly examines the traumas of economic
transition that have become central not only in Czechoslovakia but throughout the former Communist bloc. He grapples with
the details of political change, and with the complex emotional issues of nationalism, separatism, and environmental devastation.
He argues for a dynamic new market economy tempered by compassion, and for the central role of art and culture in transforming
society. Writing with passion and energy, Havel reveals his dreams and his vision for a civil society of the future, stressing
the essential goodwill in people, the responsibilities of those who lead them, and the need for tolerance. In the great seriousness
of his commitment he demonstrates a moral and political consistency all too rare in public life. Summer Meditations is a timely
and necessary book. Illuminated by Vaclav Havel's sincerity and directness, by his common sense and by his uncommon moral
courage, it gives us an essential understanding of the problems and the promise in the post-Communist world

Open letters : selected writings, 1965-1990 by Václav Havel(
Book
)20
editions published
between
1991
and
1992
in
English and Undetermined
and held by
360 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
Spanning twenty-five years, this historic collection of writings shows Vaclav Havel's evolution from a modestly known playwright
who had the courage to advise and criticize Czechoslovakia's leaders to a newly elected president whose first address to his
fellow citizens begins, "I assume you did not propose me for this office so that I, too, would lie to you." Some of the pieces
in Open letters, such as "Dear Dr. Husak" and the essay "The Power of the Powerless," are by now almost legendary for their
influence on a generation of Eastern European dissidents; others, such as some of Havel's prison correspondence and his private
letter to Alexander Dubcek, appear in English for the first time. All of them bear the unmistakable imprint of Havel's intellectual
rigor, moral conviction, and unassuming eloquence, while standing as important additions to the world's literature of conscience

Economics of good and evil : the quest for economic meaning from Gilgamesh to Wall Street by Tomáš Sedláček(
)6
editions published
between
2011
and
2013
in
English and Italian
and held by
357 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
The author radically rethinks the field of economics, challenging our assumptions about the world. Economics is touted as
a science, a value-free mathematical inquiry, but Sedlacek sees it as a cultural phenomenon, a product of our civilization.
To grasp the beliefs underlying economics, he breaks out of the field's confines and explores myths, religion, theology, philosophy,
psychology, literature, and film

Beyond hate by Bill D Moyers(
Visual
)3
editions published
in
1991
in
English
and held by
265 WorldCat member
libraries
worldwide
Through the experiences of world figures, gang leaders, and young people trying to cope with violence in their lives, Beyond
Hate chronicles the impact of hate on its victims, and probes its many dimensions